


Always A Rose

by NotOfImport



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Captain America: Civil War, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 15:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6014455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotOfImport/pseuds/NotOfImport
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Bucky is excited to celebrate his first public Valentine's Day with Steve. And ends the night with Steve admitting that Valentine's Day is, in fact, the best day ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always A Rose

In the 30’s, Bucky always had a date on Valentine’s Day. He always got her red roses, and he always made sure to leave the date with a rose of his own.

“Mind if I take a rose home to my ma?” His eyes sparkled and she couldn’t say no. Whoever she was, she’d leave with a kiss on the cheek and her heart fluttering. And Bucky did enjoy the date, but he looked forward to spending the night with Steve, handing him the single red rose and watching his cheeks blush with the same beautiful red. 

Steve never felt turned aside, or left out. He knew what a danger their love was, and how lucky it is that they could spend the day together at all. 

Flash forward 70 years, it’s their first Valentine’s Day together in the new age and Bucky couldn’t be more excited. 

The morning is soft and warm for such a day in February, Steve’s eyes flutter open at the sound of his name, and he can see a slightly blurred Bucky, holding a tray of breakfast foods in one hand and a beautiful bouquet of red roses in the other. He slowly sits himself up, still blinking his eyes to clear the sleep from them. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Bucky exclaims, placing the tray on Steve’s lap when he’s situated, and presenting the roses for Steve to take. His eyes are sparkling as he looks at Steve, hair tied up in a sloppy ponytail, and a wide smile on his lips. 

Steve takes the flowers, flipping the small card over and smiling. 

‘ _To Steve,  
This is the first of many surprises today. I love you._ ’ 

“Oh, happy Valentine’s Day, Buck. I love you too.” Bucky sits himself down on the bed, leaning forward to give Steve a quick kiss before taking a slice of toast from the tray and biting into it. 

He speaks with a full mouth, crumbs of toast dropping out onto the comforter, “Are you excited? I have so much planned today!” He swallows the toast and chomps into it again, looking expectantly at Steve. 

Steve’s downing a glass of orange juice, taking gulps before he speaks, “Mm, like what? I didn’t even know you were this into Valentine’s Day.” He picks up a fork, cutting into the waffles stacked before him. He watched Bucky gobble down the piece of toast, and grab the glass of milk on the tray, swallowing it down in no time at all. 

“You kidding? I finally get to go on a date with you on Valentine’s Day, this is the best day ever.” He grabs a piece of bacon, tearing off half of it with his teeth. Steve’s mouth is filled with waffles but he can’t stifle his laughter. 

“Well then yeah, I’m excited.” They smile at each other, and Bucky scoots himself up next to Steve, the two of them lying together eating breakfast peacefully before they hear the door open. 

“Mm, I smell bacon,” They can hear Clint’s voice faintly in the living room, “Did you guys make breakfast?” He shouts, and the two of them sigh. Bucky grabs a piece of bacon, rolls off the bed and walks into the living room, tossing it to Clint, “Think fast.” 

Clint turns and Natasha, standing beside him, snatches the bacon before it hits him in the face. She bites into it and he raises his eyebrows at her. “You snooze you lose, sorry Barton.” 

He crosses his arms, and she cracks a smile, handing him what’s left of the slice before she walks over to Bucky. “Where’s Steve?” She pats him on his bare bicep, walking past him and into the bedroom. 

Steve is throwing on a pair of jeans when he sees her in the doorway, “Hey, Nat. Happy Valentine’s Day.” She smiles, turning her head when Clint joins her in the doorway. Clint’s still chewing on the bacon, “A happy Valentine’s Day it is.” 

Bucky pushes past the two, reaching down next to the bed to grab his jeans. 

Steve walks over to the dresser to grab a shirt, his voice muffled as he pulls it down over his head, “So, any reason you guys are here? Not that we don’t enjoy the company.” 

Clint strolls to the bed, picking at the demolished food, and setting himself down atop the soft mattress. “Nat didn’t tell me anything, I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders before biting into a half eaten piece of toast. 

“They’re coming with us to a show in a few hours, till then, Tony’s got a wine tasting thing going on his floor in like twenty minutes.” Steve can hear the smile in Bucky’s voice, and he looks over at him from where he’s brushing his teeth in the bathroom. 

“What show?” He watches Bucky walk into the bathroom and join him, peering just past him to see Nat join Clint sitting on the bed. 

Bucky just smiles, sticking his toothbrush in his mouth and staring at himself in the mirror. Steve elbows him softly in the side, rinsing off his brush and plopping it into the holder. He ruffles Bucky’s already messy hair before walking out of the bathroom to throw on his shoes. “You guys know what show we’re going to?” 

Nat nods her head, while Clint shakes his, “Told you, Nat hasn’t told me anything. I’m just as much in the dark as you, buddy.” He stands up, grabbing the tray and walking out of the bedroom, “I’ll put this in the kitchen.” He calls back. 

“Thanks!” Steve shouts back. He jumps up as Bucky walks out of the bathroom, throwing on a light jacket. 

“You good to go?” Bucky laces his fingers between Steve’s, who just nods. Natasha gets up off the bed, strolling out before them and taking Clint’s arm when he offers it. They walk out the door, Steve and Bucky following closely behind. 

\--

Five minutes later, they’re at Tony’s place, sitting on barstools with wine in front of them. He’s acting as a bartender, “Pepper claims I should be in a sober mental state today, apparently.” 

She rounds the bar, setting herself down next to Natasha and leaning her elbows on the bar, “Trust me, you’re going to want to be.” She smiles at him, and he raises an eyebrow, “If you say so, dear.” 

He makes a face at the group before pouring out a dark red wine in their small glasses, “This is...an old wine,” He turns the bottle, “Ah, it’s a Syrah. So, what do you guys have planned today?” Tony pours himself a miniscule glass of the wine, eyeing Pepper, who just sips her own wine. 

“The four of us are heading to a show after this, so we can’t drink too much. And then dinner for me and Clint, the senior citizens over there have other plans. And you two?” Natasha looks between Pepper and Tony, playing around with her own empty glass of wine. 

“Tony’s making me dinner, so I’ll be praying tonight.” She finishes off the glass, looking up through her eyelashes at Tony. 

“I am an excellent cook, how dare you.” He takes away her glass, and shifts his attention to the aforementioned senior citizens, “So?” 

Bucky slides his glass away, “Can’t say,” he looks at Steve briefly, “It’s a surprise.” 

“I really don’t know what you could do to surprise Steve, but good luck pal.” He tapped his glass to Bucky’s. 

“I just don’t like surprises, so fingers crossed this asshole can pull it off the right way.” Steve pushes himself into Bucky, dragging his hand across the bar to hold Bucky’s free one. 

The six of them sat, talking and laughing for the next hour with wines and cheeses in front of them before two of the couples had to leave. 

Nat hopped off the barstool, tugging Clint by the arm with her and waving to Tony and Pepper. Steve slid off the stool right after, waiting for Bucky to follow suit. “Yeah one sec.” Steve shrugged, strolling over to Pepper and giving her a hug before catching up with Natasha and Clint, who were waiting for the elevator. 

Tony clapped Bucky on the shoulder at the bar, “Good luck tonight.” He winked, and Pepper reached over to take Bucky’s hand, giving it a small squeeze and smiling at him. He nodded at the both of them, and hopped off the stool, hastening over to where everyone was waiting. 

\--

They were in a cab soon after, stuck in traffic, and awfully uncomfortable in the nice clothes they’d abandoned their casual wear for. 

“Why should I wear a suit to the theatre? I’m not performing.” Clint tugged at his collar, and Bucky nodded next to him. 

“Shh we’re almost there.” Natasha adjusted her dress, leaning to look out the window. The theatre was a mere two blocks up, and the cab was completely stopped. “Why don’t we just walk?” She opened her purse, pulling out the fare and handing it to the driver, “Thank you.” 

Everyone else got out of the cab and followed her, Steve’s eyes were stuck on the marquee board, big block letters reading,

‘ **HAMILTON** ’

He whipped his head around to look at Bucky, “How did you-” 

“I got ‘em months ago, you shoulda known I’d bring you to this.” Bucky squeezed Steve’s hand, and Steve pulled him closer, pressing their lips together and snaking his arm around Bucky’s back, hand on the nape of his neck. 

He pulled away, just staring into Bucky’s eyes, and Bucky let out a smile, “That’s only the second time you’ve kissed me today, for Valentine’s Day that’s an awfully low count.” He winked, nodding his head and pulling Steve along to where everyone else was lining up. 

Natasha pulled the tickets out of her little clutch, handing one to each of them. 

The ticket taker scanned each one, marvelling at the heroes as they walked through the metal detector one by one. Bucky went last, and the machine let out a piercing beep. He raised his hand up, pulling the sleeve down best he could. 

“Sorry, it’s just my arm.” He waved it at the security guards, who let him through after a quick inspection. Nat, Clint, and Steve all laughed at the scene as they bypassed all the commotion around them. They walked into the auditorium, an open roof and bright red seats guiding their eyes. An usher helped them along, staring uninterrupted at Steve. 

“Yes, he is Captain America.” Natasha gave a fake smile to the man, and he cleared his throat, looking away at her indirect request. 

“Hope you enjoy the show,” his voice quivered as they took their seats, and Steve shook his hand, “Thank you.” 

The usher was agape, and he let out a nervous laugh before rushing up the aisle to assist someone else. 

“You never do get used to that, you’d think we were Frank Sinatra or something.” Steve sat down, brushing off his coat and grabbing Bucky’s hand. Both Nat and Clint rolled their eyes at the comment. Bucky nodded considerately. 

The curtain opened soon after, and Steve was completely gone. Bucky looked over at him every once in awhile, and his eyes were always glittering. He’d even started crying, much to the surprise of Natasha and Clint. Bucky just held his hand, stroking his thumb back and forth as he watched the musical peacefully. 

When it ended, Steve was up out of his seat clapping. He looked down at the other three, as if telling them to get up with him. So they did, and they clapped with smiles on their faces. The cast bowed and left the stage, and Steve was still awestruck.

He turned to Bucky, “I love you so much.” Bucky smiled, leaning forward to let Steve kiss him. A quick kiss on the mouth, before they were trudging out of the theatre among other stunned patrons. 

Natasha and Clint turned to the others once they were out of the theatre, “Pretty amazing, huh?” Natasha huddled into her sweater before Clint took off his jacket to give her. 

“It was...phenomenal.” Steve shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head and turning to catch Bucky staring at him. 

The other two nodded their heads in agreement, “Well, we’ve got reservations so we’ll leave you two. Unless you wanna share a cab?” Clint hailed a taxi, looking around quickly at the traffic they’d have to face. 

Bucky waved his hand, “Nah, we’re not going your direction we’ll get our own.” 

“Alright,” Clint opened the door for Natasha as she ducked into the car, “See you guys.” He winked before crouching into the car himself. 

Bucky and Steve waved as the cab drove off, before Bucky hailed another. The taxi skidded to a halt, likely upon seeing Captain America was waiting for one. Bucky opened the door for Steve, and the two of them hopped into the car. 

“181 Freeman Street, Brooklyn.” Bucky told the driver, and Steve looked at him quizzically, opening his mouth as if to speak but interrupted by the driver who had turned around and smiled at them. 

“Say, you’re Captain America! And you’re his old friend, uhh..Bucky somethin’. Wow, what a Valentine’s Day. I remember seeing you in the movies when I was a kid. Mind if I get a picture when we get where you’re going?” He was an older man, frizzy hair and wrinkles in his cheeks. His smile was missing a few teeth, but it was still sweet. 

“Uh, yeah sure, no problem.” Steve smiled back at the old man, trying not to be disheartened by the comment about his childhood. 

“Fantastic!” The man turned his radio to an oldies station, looking at Bucky and Steve through the rear view mirror. 

Bucky leaned himself against the door, sighing and yawning, “I think that wine made me sleepy.” 

Steve scooted himself close to Bucky, leaning on him best he could with the angle. Bucky reached his metal hand over to Steve, placing it softly atop his hand and intertwining their fingers. Steve yawned, letting a small moan slip out, “Yeah, me too.” 

The driver looked at them through the mirror again, “We got quite a ways to go, fellas. If you’d like to take a snooze, that’s alright with me.” He laughed a rasp laugh, “Just don’t snore too loud.” 

Bucky yawned again, letting himself laugh at the old man’s small joke, “Thank you,” He nodded as the man nodded, a secondary notion of gratitude for such an accepting man.

Steve was already half asleep on Bucky’s chest by the time Bucky got to close his eyes. The old man watched them as they peacefully slipped off into sleep. He smiled. 

\--

Nearly an hour later, the two of them woke up as the car came to a stop in front of an old, run down apartment building. Steve sat up, rubbing his eyes and patting Bucky to get him awake. His eyes opened slowly, and he slid up from his position with a final yawn. 

“Good sleep?” The driver clicked a light on in the car, turning around to look at them, the same gummy smile on his face. 

Steve nodded, “Thank you, sir.” He reached into his jacket to pull out his wallet, but the old man waved him off. 

“No charge for Captain America,” he mustered up his voice, making it theatric when he announced Steve’s stage name. Steve looked up at the man, shaking his head slightly. Bucky was still waking up. 

“No, no. You don’t have to, honestly.” He pulled out the fare, plus a hefty tip. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” He handed it to the man, whose eyes seemed to become even softer than they already were. 

“Wow, thank you, Captain!” 

Steve smiled and Bucky finally spoke up, “Don’t forget we owe him a picture.” 

“Oh, yes, I have a camera right here.” The man turned back and grabbed a camera from the side of his door. Steve took it and reached it as far as he could, smiling with the old man, Bucky in the background with a small smile on his face as well. 

Steve handed back the camera, thanking the man once again before he and Bucky got out of the car. The old man drove off, Steve and Bucky watching him as he disappeared into the distance. 

Steve turned to face the run down building that he’d been brought to, “So what’s this?” 

Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand, “It’s just through this alley, you should remember, you got beat up here.” He laughed, and Steve pushed him with his shoulder. “It’s true but that’s not where we’re going.” Bucky quickened his pace, pulling Steve along down the dark alleyway, to an old metal fire escape. 

Bucky tentatively walked up, surprised when it was firmer than he believed it’d be. But still he walked slow, Steve following behind at the same pace. 

Steve began to recognize the worn bricks, as if he’d only been here yesterday. Bucky continued up the stairs until they were on the roof, a small table in the center set up for two. Music playing quietly from some place on the roof, and Christmas lights strung along the edges, lighting up the darkness of the near empty neighborhood. 

Bucky let go of Steve’s hand, hopping over to the table and beckoning for Steve to hurry. 

He walked towards Bucky, eyes teary and sat at the table. “I can’t believe you. How did you do all this?” 

“I had some help from Sam. He was more than happy to help me.” Steve watched Bucky lean down and pick something up from his seat. It was a single red rose, and Bucky presented it to Steve on a bended knee. Steve waited before taking the rose. 

“I don’t have a ring, and I know, it’s...it’s ridiculous to propose on Valentine’s Day. It’s predictable. But waiting even this long was torture, and that’s saying something.” Bucky was choking up, and Steve was tearing up, but they both let out a small laugh at his attempt at a joke. 

“God, Steve. I never thought I’d be able to do something like this with you. When we were twenty I was terrified, I didn’t want to marry someone for show. I was terrified that I would have to, and I’d lose you. There were so many things I feared waking up in the morning, but you- you were the one thing that I saw in crystal. I never thought I’d get to have this moment with you, I never thought I’d get to have any of the moments in any of the days we’ve spent together since you found me again. But the world saved us, and we’re together and it’s the damndest thing I’ve ever heard of. I could never dream up a story as meant to be as ours, as completely wild as ours. And I can’t wrap my head around it, but I don’t need to because I’m here and you’re here and it’s all I’ve ever wanted.” He wiped at his eyes, sniffling as he looked at Steve, who was also wiping away tears, “So, Steven Grant Rogers, will you marry me?” 

Steve just nodded, he couldn’t speak but he stood up out of his seat, pulling Bucky up to his level and enveloping him in a hug. Bucky heard sniffling, and he tossed the rose onto the table, wrapping his arms around Steve as tight as he could, fingers clutching his suit jacket. 

“I love you, Bucky. I love you.” Steve’s voice was breaking, and he was pressing his lips to Bucky’s shoulder, neck, jaw, wherever he could reach. 

Bucky pulled back slightly from the hug, to face Steve. He moved a hand to the nape of Steve’s neck as he leaned in to kiss him, “I love you so much, Steve.” he whispered. And they both fell into a kiss, one of Steve’s hands tangling in Bucky’s hair, the other still coiled around his back. Their lips collided over and under each other again and again as they ran out of breath and gasped for it in the space between kisses. Bucky kissed along Steve’s jaw, down his neck, before resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder. 

They listened to the music in the background, and swayed slowly to an old tune, breathing softly down each others’ necks with their eyes closed and their minds filled with good things. 

Steve whispered into the cool night, “Hundreds of millions of years in this planet, and I was lucky enough to live on it the same time as you…” 

Bucky felt a smile cross Steve’s lips, “Twice.” 

And they both decided, at that moment, that this was, in fact, the best day they’d ever had.


End file.
